Raking leaves it often arduous and time consuming labor. Heretofore, devices have been developed for reducing the laborious task of hand raking by providing wheeled raking devices.
Power raking machines which utilize a gas or electric motor to drive a reciprocating rake head are shown in U.S. Pats. Nos. 3,777,460 and 3,417,554. These machines are often used for general lawn conditioning purposes such as removing thatch or dead grass from lawns. They require access to an external electrical hookup as well as extended lengths of extrical extension cord. The resulting machines are then rather heavy and inconvenient to use for raking loose lawn cover such as leaves. Power machines do not appear to be practical for such purposes.
Manual raking devices have been developed, such as shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,329,708 and 1,020,228, wherein raking tines are supported by wheels. The devices may be rolled along the ground with the raking tines gathering leaves and the like in the path of the device. Such devices do not require an auxilliary power source. However, the raking tines are only moved over the ground and are not provided with a simulated raking action. Leaves can soon accumulate beneath the raking tines resulting in a dragging raking action which will not rake cleanly.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,824,773, a wheeled power raking device is disclosed having a plurality of individual hand types rakes operated by a crankshaft. The crankshaft is powered by an electric motor to move the individual rakes through a raking motion over a ground. Again, the attendant inconveniences and dangers of having an auxilliary power source are necessary and appear to outweigh the practical advantages of such a device, except possibly for commercial application.